Catherine O’Hara was a Canadian-American actress born on March 4, 1954. She passed away on January 30, 2026, due to difficulty breathing. O’Hara was not only an actress but also a comedian and screenwriter with a career spanning over 50 years. She started working on sketch (Second City Television, 1976-1984) and improvisational comedy in television before she took on larger dramatic roles.
As a result of her work on Second City Television, she received a Primetime Emmy Award for her role as a waitress. After Second City Television, she grew in popularity and took on larger roles in movies and shows such as Beetlejuice (1988) as Delia Deetz, Home Alone (1990), and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992) as the mother. O’Hara’s voice roles include the films The Nightmare Before Christmas as Sally, Chicken Little as Tina, Over the Hedge as Penny, Monster House as the mother, Frankenweenie as the “weird girl”, and Elemental as Brook Ripple.
Catherine O’Hara is best known for her role as Moira Rose in the CBS sitcom Schitt’s Creek (2015-2020). Catherine’s role in Schitt’s Creek earned her a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series as well as a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress- Television Series Musical or Comedy. Her portrayal of Temple Grandin’s aunt in the HBO film Temple Grandin (2010) earned an Emmy nomination. Other television credits include the HBO drama series Six Feet Under (2003–2005), the Netflix series A Series of Unfortunate Events (2017–2018), and the HBO drama series The Last of Us (2025).
On Sunday, March 1, O’Hara was posthumously honored with an Actor Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series for her role in The Studio on Apple TV.
Catherine O’Hara is a very exceptional actress, in my opinion, because of how she gets into character. While playing the role of Sally in A Nightmare Before Christmas, she dressed up as her to help feel the vibes. She excels and played many major roles during her time in Hollywood. I love her because of the role she played in Home Alone, as the very overwhelmed mother of a large family trying to get to vacation on time. She was very dramatic and had a very memorable line, screaming, “KEVIN!!” after she realized her youngest son was not with them. I also really enjoyed Catherine O’Hara in her role as Moira Rose in Schitt’s Creek. She did a great job at adding to the drama and thickening the plot. My favorite scene is in the first episode when she is crying about all the wigs she has and everything she wanted to take. Overall, I believe that she is a great actress who acted as comedic relief in many dramatic shows. She deserves every award she received and then some.
